On Saturday evening, the 19th St Lucia Squash Open partly sponsored by the the Cap Maison, The Blu Hotel, Rex Resorts, Harmony Marina Suites, St Lucia Electricity Services Ltd and IGY Rodney Bay Marina came to a close.
Finals in each division were played but the afternoon matches turned out to be a bit of an anticlimax following from the exciting matches during the week with many going to five. All matches were completed in straight three with the following results:-
BOWL DIVISION
- In the play off for 7th position Chris Thakur of St lucia defeated Megan Piper also of St Lucia 11/5 13/11 11/6
- The 5th place match between Cameron Moffat and Tharick Hippolyte did not atke place
- In third place play off Derek Mogal of St Lucia defeated Chris Defreitas also of St Lucia 11/9 11/5 11/7
- In the bowl finals Lily Bergasse of st Lucia won the match in three straight games 13/11 11/8 11/6 against St Lucian Wissam Chreiki
PLATE DIVISION
- Jude Van dyke won 7th position in a walk over against Monique Lovell
- St Lucians Randolph Khan and Habib Chreiki competed for 5th place in the plate. Khan took the first game11/9 but lost the second game 11/7. Khan won the next two games 11/4 11/8 to win the match
- Callum Samuel of St Lucia defeated David Piper of St Lucia in a walk over match
- Mark Accosta of Antigua defeated St Lucian Richard Johnson 11/9 11/9 11/3 in the plate finals
MENS OPEN
- St Lucians Oliver Gobat and Ben Gilmore squared off for 7th place in the open mens main draw and Gobat defeated his opponent in three straight games 11/2 11/9 13/11
St Lucia’s #1 Charlie Sonson played Jules Snagg of St Vincent for fifth place and defeated Snagg in three straight games 11/9 11/7 11/8. Sonson changed his game plan which Snagg seemed unable to overcome together with Sonson playing some amazing knicks thoughout the three games.
- In an all Vincentian match, experienced James Bentick showed his protégée that in this matach experience would win over youth. Although the games were close Bentick defeated his opponent Kevin bailey 12/10 11/6 11/9 to take the third place.
- The finals took place between Colin Ramasra #1 Trinidadian player with a current world ranking and #1 seed of the tournament and Matthew Schonfrucht of the UK. Ramasra did not waste any time in showing who was going to win that match. In the first game Ramasra only gave his opponent two opportunities to serve wining that game 11/2. In the second game Ramasra did not ease off the pressure again giving his opponent only four opportunities to serve winning 11/4. In game three and the last game of the match the score was 11/6 to Ramasra.
The matches were followed by the prize giving ceremony and in attendance was Jim Xavier, Programme Development Officer in the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports. Mr. Xavier addressed the players and assisted with prize giving. He congratulated the Squash Association on their achievement of running the open for nineteen consecutive years and made a commitment to assist with the twentieth anniversary next June.
President of the Association, Cheryl Renwick thanked those players who visited from other countries including Trinidad, Antigua, St Vincent and UK and indicated that the goal for the number of players next year is a minimum of twenty to reflect the number of years the tournament has been running. She thanked the players for a week of a high standard of squash with many exciting games throughout the week.
At the recent annual OECS Squash championships held in BVI in May, David Piper Tournament Director of the St Lucia Squash Association was elected President of the OECS Squash Association with Monique Lovell elected Vice President.
Mr Piper addressed the players and thanked the many sponsors who continue to support the Association and urged them to continue supporting us through next year as St Lucia hosts the senior OECS Squash championships in May and the 20th anniversary of the St Lucia Squash Open in June
Trophies were awarded to the top three players in each division:
Bowl
- Winner was Lily Bergasse
- 2nd place was Wissam Chreiki
- 3rd place was Derek Mogal
Plate
- Winner was Mark Accosta of Antigua
- 2nd place was Richard Johnson
- 3rd place was Callum Samuel
Mens Main open draw
- Winner was Colin Ramasra of Trinidad and Tobago
- 2nd place was Matthew Schonfrucht of the UK
- 3rd place was James Bentick of St Vincent
- 4th place was Kevin Bailey of St Vincent
- 5th place was Charlie Sonson
